Once there, the spacecraft will orbit for a few months, analyzing lunar dust and the atmosphere, according to the Associated Press.

While this wasn't the first time NASA caught something like this on camera, it's the first time at Wallops Island.

"Our photo archive contains launch sequence photos from every launch, and none that I’ve seen so far has shown us anything like this before," Perry said via email. "Definitely a surprise to us (and a little sad)."